Word.ws English Dictionary

dissimule

dissimule is the obsolete form of dissemble.

Meaning of dissemble

Verb

dissemble (third-person singular simple present dissembles, present participle dissembling, simple past and past participle dissembled)

  1. (transitive) To disguise or conceal something.
    • Dissemble all your griefs and discontents.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  2. (transitive) To feign, dissimulate.
    • And like a Lyon, Slumbring in the vvay, / Or Sleep-diſſembling, vvhile he vvaits his Prey, […]1681, [John Dryden], Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] J[acob] T[onson] and are to be sold by W. Davis […], →OCLC, page 14
  3. (transitive) To deliberately ignore something; to pretend not to notice.
  4. (intransitive) To falsely hide one's opinions or feelings.
    • VVhile to his Arms the bluſhing Bride he took; / To ſeeming Sadneſs ſhe compoſ'd her Look; / As if by Force ſubjected to his VVill, / Tho' pleaſ'd, diſſembling, and a VVoman ſtill.1700, [John] Dryden, “Cymon and Iphigenia, from Boccace”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 552

Forms of dissimule

third-person singular presentdissimules
present participledissimuling
past participledissimuled
pastdissimuled

Origin of dissimule

Inherited from Middle English dissimulen, from Middle French dissimuler, from Latin dissimulō. Doublet of dissimulate, dissemble, and dissimilate.

Words formed from dissimule

Questions about dissimule

What is dissimule the obsolete form of?
Dissimule is the obsolete form of dissemble.

Words near dissimule in the dictionary

  1. dissimulative
  2. dissimulator
  3. dissimulators
  4. dissimulatress
  5. dissimulatresses
  6. dissimule
  7. dissimuler
  8. dissimulers
  9. dissing
  10. dissings
  11. dissipable

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dissimule (page history and authors); dissemble (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “dissimule.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dissimule. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.